Likelihood of schizophrenia test debated

Researchers say they have found a biological marker for the mental illness, but experts say it's a long way from being clinically useful.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. Feb. 19, 2001.

Physicians dream of simple diagnostics for complex mental illnesses. Although many experts doubt it will ever be possible, some scientists think they may be on track to finding a blood marker that will predict, or at least diagnose, schizophrenia.

Researchers in Israel found a chemical difference in the white blood cells of schizophrenics that may eventually lead to the development of a commercially available blood test. If it were to become a reality, it could replace the standard six months of observation needed for diagnosis.

Scientists from the immunology department of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot found that when compared with healthy controls, schizophrenics had elevated levels of D3-receptor mRNA, according to a report in the Jan. 16 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

"Early detection of schizophrenia can lead to better treatment and better prognosis," said Tal Ilani, lead author of the study and a graduate student at the institute.

Their research will now expand to include patients with other mental illnesses, and they predict that a version of the test they are using in their work may be more widely available within the next few years.

"Although these results seem very significant, they are still preliminary, and a lot of work has to be done before any commercial blood test can be developed," said Ilani.

Schizophrenia experts said a simple blood test for the difficult-to-diagnose condition was an idea that -- if it worked -- would greatly simplify physicians' work with the mentally ill. "Any psychiatrist, especially those who work with schizophrenics, is really looking for the insulin of schizophrenia," said Carol Tamminga, MD, professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. [...]